In Between the Earth and the Clouds
by Anti-Trend Publishing
Summary: Five years after the war ended everyone seems to have found who they're meant to be with, except Toph.  When she gets a letter from her parents it may just put her in a situation to find love.
1. Chapter 1

Foreword:

This is my first fanfic, so sorry if it's a little short. They may get longer or shorter, not sure yet. I have no idea what I'm doing, but please ignore that and try to get into the story.

Have fun reading.

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Disclaimer:

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. If I did there would be a fourth season. I'll probably write part of a fourth season later.

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Chapter 1

Toph has always slept on the ground, normally without a blanket. Last night was one of the hotter nights in Ba Sing Se, so the majority of the populace joined Toph in her blanket-less sleep. Unlike the majority though, Toph viewed clothes as optional while sleeping. Luckily her roommates know about her habit to strip before bed, also know how to deal with it. Not wanting a repeat of Aang's _mysterious_ nosebleed incident it had been made Katara's responsibility to wake Toph.

The door to Toph's room has no latch, so Katara was able to nudge it open near silently. Katara also would take this opportunity to give Toph a much needed bath, much needed in Katara's opinion anyway. Toph hates anything that would separate her from her precious earth, and that made it impossible to get her to bathe of her own accord. The only way to get her washed was to sneak up on her with bath water, and Toph could only be snuck up on while asleep.

Bath water mixed with different perfumes was being suspended above Katara's head by a little hand motion. Katara made a few long, quiet strides into the dark cave of a room, and saw the slightly dark lump that was Toph. Then with a wide swing of her arm Katara pressured washed Toph. Toph's body slid from the pressure and then jerked into a somewhat defensive position as she woke up, but Katara was already started. Thin streams of water, formed from whatever water wasn't brown with dirt, whipped around a groggy, and soggy, Toph, and shaving her legs and armpits.

As Toph's mind cleared she said, "I smell like jasmine! What the badger-mole are y—?"

A towel to her face cut her off. Katara lowered her throwing arm, and said, "You were covered with dirt."

"I've told you a hundred times before, and I'll tell you again, 'What you call dirt I call a healthy coating of earth.' So stop dumping water on me!"

"Just dry yourself off…and get dressed."

"Sure, _mom_. Why do I have to get up, at all?"

"You don't _have _to…but Aang _did _make fruit pies."

Growling in indecision, Toph said, "You're lucky Twinkle-toes makes such good fruit pies."

It took Toph a minute to get dressed, and another five to brush her hair. Her hair took so long to brush because her hair is longer than she is tall. The only way she has been able to brush it is by using an iron toothed comb. After it was straight she went to work fixing it.

When Toph walked into the dining room, which was much too big for three people, she was wrapping her hair around a bun on the back of her head. She only wrapped enough hair to keep it from dragging on the ground. As she sat down in her usual chair she was forced to swing her head to one side so she didn't sit and pull on her own hair.

A blue apple cream pie was sitting in front of Toph already, not that she could tell what color apple was used for it. Rolling the sleeves of her brown tunic she prepared to pounce on the pie. As the blue blur made its way to Toph's stomach Katara walked in the room.

Katara was wearing a green robe with yellow flowers lining the bottom, but the flowers still had green ting from the green fluorescent rocks. Two braids went from her hairline to bun on the back of her head held together by her Gran-Gran's betrothal necklace hanging of the end of a hair stick. She walked with the confidence of a warrior, and the grace of a dancer.

How Katara walked was the only redeeming quality Toph could come up with off the top of her hair. Like always it took Toph a second to realize Aang was there as well.

Aang was dressed how he always dressed, in orange monk garb befitting a master airbender. He wore a necklace of meditation beads, and it had four pendants representing the four cardinal winds, and the air temples stand for them.

Aang sat down to Toph's right at the head of the table. Katara was about to sit directly in between Aang and Toph, but Toph mule kicked, pushing Katara's chair back. After falling down Katara said, "Ha-ha. Very mature, Toph."

"You're marring _him_?" Toph said, pointing at Aang, "And you're worried about _my _maturity?"

"I'll have you know Aang is very mature."

They both looked at Aang, and he was balancing a pie on his nose.

"You're right, princess. Your prince charming gives off such a mature…_glow,_" Toph said, sarcastically.

"'_Glow_…?' You know, the 'I'm blind' jokes have gotten old."

"The only thing that's gotten old here is you, _old maid_."

"Old maid? What would make you say that?"

"You've been planning your wedding since the war ended five years ago. Yet you still haven't been able to tie the knot."

"We're getting married next month!"

A copper bell rang through the stone walls, but did nothing to stop Toph and Katara from bickering. Aang knew that neither of the girls would do anything about the quest at the door. He got up to see who it was.

He returned with three scrolls, and interrupted Toph and Katara's bickering, "Mail's here!"

Katara unraveled one, and read, "Dear Katara, Aang, and Toph, We will be there three weeks before the wedding. Ty-Lee is coming with us. She is bringing her boyfriend, Tako. We don't want to take up too much time, so we will catch up when we get there. Love, Sokka and Suki. P.S. Tako is foaming mouth guy."

"Three weeks before… so next week then," Aang said. He then began to read his scroll, "Dear Avatar, I, chief of the northern water tribe, regret to inform you that I cannot attend your wedding. However I am pleased to inform you that peace holds blah blah blah," Aang trailed off, and then said then said, "I don't even remember inviting him."

"Aang, he's the leader of the larger portion of the water tribe. Of course he was invited."

"You know, that's good, and neutral, news for you two love birds," Toph said, "But is there anything _I _should care about?"

While Toph took another bite of pie Aang said, "There's one more scroll… with the seal of the flying boar?"

Toph spewed blue across the stone table.

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Afterword:

I hope you enjoyed this, and want to read more. There will be an update on Sunday, March 13. If it's not there I have been hit by a bus. Assuming there's no bus, you should checkout my profile.

Also, if you made it this far I know why. It's because of nude Toph, right? I'm not sure why, but Toph just seems like one of those people who doesn't like clothes while sleeping.


	2. Chapter 2

Foreword:

Yay, second chapter! The buses didn't get me! They tried, they teamed up with the ocean to try and hit me with a tsunami.

No, seriously that was a tragedy. If I can find the money I will probably donate to Red Cross, I'm not saying you have to but keep in mind that Japan gave us anime.

Alright, enough seriousness. I hope you all like this chapter. I wanted to send out a shout out to the first person to favorite this. They are a Zutarian and Tokka fan, you know who you are, and thank you for the confidence boost. Much love to anyone who's coming back, or willing to read this second chapter. Now get to it!

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Disclaimer:

I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. If I did the movie would have been better. The fire nation would have been Japanese people, I mean why would Indian people be in the east? Indian people are like southwest of China. Sorry, I tend to rabble. I just don't own it, okay?

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Katara walked back into the room with a sponge stone and a bucket of water. She cleaned up pie bits, grumbling about Toph, pigs, and something involving blast jelly. Toph, who did nothing to clean up, was yelling at Aang, "What do you mean 'urgent?'"

"I don't mean anything beyond what it says. See, right here," Aang said, pointing at the word "urgent."

Toph stared at him, even though she can't see, with a how-dumb-are-you look.

Aang realized what he said, and added, "Sorry."

Toph slugged him the shoulder, and said, "Alright, I'll have to take your word for it. So what should I do, Twinkle-toes?"

"I can't tell you what to do. People telling you what to do is what caused this situation."

"That's actually pretty wise, guru Twinkle-toes," Toph said, honestly surprised, "…for someone so dumb anyway."

"Thank you, I think."

Katara chimed in, "I'll tell you what to do. They're your parents, and you should try to connect with them."

"Katara, that's not what I wanted to hear. I wanted you to say, 'You should ignore them.' I'm going to talk to Uncle Iroh," Toph said, walking to her room to dress properly.

Toph left the stone house dressed in some of her nicest clothes, which were just above average compared to most people. She had also asked Katara to braid her hair, and Toph's hair when braided reaches right to the back of her knees. The bracelet she had gotten during the war now had matching one to make a pair. Since she can't stand to wear shoes she had picked up two meteorite anklets, while getting her second bracelet, so her feet wouldn't be bare.

It was a five minute walk to Iroh's tea shop, eventually named _The Western Dragon's Retreat_. Iroh still wasn't able to decide on a name after the war. He wanted to name it something like _The Dragon of the West's Tea Shoppe_, but Zuko suggested that was too long. Then everyone gave him grief to come up with a better name. That's when Zuko came up with _The Western Dragon's Retreat_. Iroh liked it because it was poetic, ironic, and easy to remember, so it was decided.

Toph walked into _The Western Dragon's Retreat_ through large twin doors that were wide open. There was a line leading out of the tea shop, but Toph ignored it. A waitress in a green silk kimono, with a red dragon circling it, met Toph at the greeter's stand. The waitress said, "Your usual table, Miss Toph?"

"Where else would I go?"

"Very good, Miss Toph."

The waitress led Toph to a large table out on a patio. Toph sat down at the head of the table, and put her feet up. She then intertwined her fingers resting her hands on her stomach.

Iroh came out with a hot pot of _Jasmine Night _tea. _Jasmine Night_ tea is Black Jasmine tea leaves boiled in water mixed with cave dwelling Acai berries, and _Jasmine Night_ is a specialty of _The Western Dragon's Retreat_. Iroh knows that _Jasmine Night _is Toph's favorite, and he said, "Hmm, you only put your hands on your stomach when you're troubled."

"Hey, Uncle Iroh," Toph said, since everyone had taken to calling him "Uncle" or "Uncle Iroh."

Along with his universal "uncle" status he had also taken to the part of a tea shop owner. Iroh would switch many of his tunics, but he always wore a long green robe with a red dragon sprawled across the back, the dragon also had white lotus in its mouth. The clothes he wore hid what little fat he had regained from after the war. Iroh set the tea pot down, pulled out two cups from his sleeve, and said, "So what's troubling you, Toph?"

"Well… I got this letter…" Toph said, and relayed what the letter said.

After she finished Iroh said, "Quite a conundrum you have there. I think what you have to ask yourself is not 'What do I want?' but 'What do my parents deserve?' From what I've heard all that your parents did they did because they loved you."

"I… I guess you're right," Toph said, sipping her tea. They both sat there and chatted until all the tea was gone. Toph left with a curt goodbye, and Iroh joked about a tab never getting paid.

Toph arrived home to find Aang and Katara making out. There were different color swatches for wedding banners. They had obviously been picking out colors, and then got distracted.

Knocking over the couch, Toph said, "Okay, enough tongue-bending, Twinkle-lips. You're taking me to my parents."

"Toph, I'd be happy to, but I can't leave a month before the wedding."

"Yeah, we still have so much to do," Katara said.

"And yet you have time to have a tongue-bending duel."

"We weren't using our tongues!" Katara said getting defensive.

"I can tell you're lying… And I could feel your tongues moving."

"Um… I thought girls were supposed to talk about kissing when the guys aren't around," Aang said.

"Whatever, I can't get to my parents' place and back in time without Appa. So, Aang, you need to fly him for me."

"I already said I can't."

"And we can't until we return from our honeymoon."

"Fine, whatever, screw 'urgent' anyway. Maybe next time they'll say why it's urgent," Toph said, surrendering with a sigh, and by shrugging her shoulders.

Three days later the house was filled with the sound of a copper bell. Katara was expecting RSVP's and wedding gifts, and hurried to the door. She opened it, and said, a little disappointed, "Oh, hello. Nice to see you again, Duke."

"It's THE Duke," he said, obviously annoyed.

"Sorry, so how may I help you?"

Well… I wanted to talk to Toph."

"Sure, she's not doing anything," Katara said, a little exasperated. She then waved The Duke in.

"Thank you," The Duke said, with a slight bow. He entered the large stone house, and followed Katara into the sitting room. Toph was laid out on the ground juggling Momo around using a couple of large rocks.

Katara said, as her and The Duke entered the room, "Hey, Toph, someone's here to see you."

"What? Who?" Toph said only half paying attention.

"Me, The Duke."

"Oh, hey, what do you need?"

"It's about what you need."

Toph perked up a little bit, putting down the rocks and Momo, and asked, "What do I need then?"

"Well, I was talking with Uncle Iroh when I dropped off his tea shipment…"

"…And?" Toph asked, getting fairly curious.

Toph was standing now, and anyone could see that The Duke wasn't much taller than her. He had to modify his helmet a long time ago. His signature helmet now was just a leather and iron headband. Short, dark brown hair fell around the edges of the headband, and his hair had white tips from spirit berry juice which acts like a natural bleach. A dark red shirt had a leather vest over it, and The Duke also had brown pants with thick leather kneepads. He had iron toed leather boots, and leather gloves with iron knuckles. The Duke's face also had thinned out a little, but still held onto his child like wonderment.

Even though this was casual for him he still looked overdressed next to Toph. Toph was wearing the same thing she had on three days ago before heading to _The Western Dragon's Retreat_. She hadn't changed much in five years, except three things. The three things that changed were that her hair was longer, she was taller, and her breasts were bigger. Otherwise she was exactly the same.

The Duke finished taking in the matured Toph, and said, "… He said you wanted to see your parents. Well, I can get you there and back in time for the wedding."

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Afterword:

Descriptive wasn't it? Sorry about that, I wanted to describe more this time. I figured if you had made it to the second chapter you wouldn't mind getting into a more realistic world.

So there will be another chapter next week Sunday, March 20. If you haven't done it yet; check out my profile and comment or send me messages. Also, if you have work you think I would like send me a link or something.

I hope the buses don't get me, or you.


	3. Chapter 3

Foreword:

Chapter three is up and running. Sorry to anyone who might have checked this earlier and it wasn't there. It wasn't letting me upload anything.

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Disclaimer:

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. Nothing funny, no commentary, I just don't own it.

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During the war, after the failed invasion, Pipsqueak had been sent to a Fire Nation prison. While in prison he had made friends with Fire Nation deserters and traitors. A few of these prisoners were even former airship engineers. When the war was over all prisoners in for nonviolent war crimes were released.

Pipsqueak, with his new friends, met up with The Duke at the end of the war celebration. Once the coronation of Fire Lord Zuko was done, and the party started, The Duke, Pipsqueak, and the former Fire Nation prisoners discussed future work possibilities. The Duke suggested that they start an air shipping business. With the airship engineers and firebenders that were there they had enough hands to keep an airship afloat, so it was decided that they would start the first, and only, airship transport company.

The new crew voted to have Pipsqueak become the captain, since he brought them together, but Pipsqueak declined the offer. Pipsqueak instead nominated The Duke, and the crew agreed that since it was The Duke's idea he should be the next in line to become captain. There was one person who thought that The Duke was too young, but he was out voted by the rest of them.

Captain The Duke was now who stood before Toph, offering her the opportunity to see her parents before Aang and Katara's wedding. Toph knew what The Duke's business was, but had no other knowledge about it. Toph had to ask, "How long will it take?"

"It should take ten days roundtrip, as long as the weather is clear."

Toph began to think if she really wanted to go, or not. Having had decided before Toph was not one to change her mind. She then confirmed it to herself, and said, "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow at sunrise, and glad to have you aboard," The Duke said, and stuck out his hand.

Grabbing his hand Toph tried to squeeze it into submission. What she found was that The Duke had hands like an ali-gorilla. The more she struggled to hurt his hand the more his fingers bit back. Toph was finally forced to let go.

She was actually impressed, and that didn't happen often. On the few occasions that she was impressed she would respond with anger, and once in a blue moon flirting. Toph smiled, and said, "Nice grip there, tough guy."

"Ha-ha, better a tough guy than Twinkle-toes. Personally though, I think I'd rather be Toph's guy."

Toph could feel her face burn, and they were still face to face on opposite sides of the entrance to the living room. She couldn't stand it so she lifted a rock wall in between them, blocking the entrance. In this new wall a slit opened up, and Toph said, "I'll be there tomorrow morning."

The Duke felt bad about what he had said now. He wanted to apologize, but thought he would only make it worse. Turning around he immediately saw Katara standing in the entrance to the kitchen, and she held back a laugh, poorly.

Katara was making seafood and vegetarian menus for the wedding, and then The Duke walked by. When he walked past her he could feel her eyes looking at his back. Over his shoulder he saw Katara try to conceal that she was staring by going back to writing on a piece of note parchment.

The Duke left the house, and started to walk towards the middle ring of the city. The stone tram was still up and running, but The Duke has always preferred to walk. If given the choice he would run across the roves and jump over walls, but he realized most people don't like someone to run on the tops of their homes.

Even walking it still only took fifteen minutes to get back to the airship. Every time The Duke saw the massive airship all he could think of was how much gold the crew had put into buying it. Then he'd remember that now he was the sole owner.

Outside of the airship The Duke had confidence. Inside the airship he inspired confidence. He was always The Duke, but inside he was The Captain.

For the first few voyages the crew could follow Captain The Duke, but they didn't recognize his confidence or even respect him. What it took for the crew to respect him was when they were forced to land by a storm and then attacked by pirates in their vulnerable state. They were outnumbered, unprepared, and soft from peace time, but The Duke and his first mate Pipsqueak were still well practiced in guerilla warfare. The Duke had his crew hide in every available compartment, and he and Pipsqueak stayed out to signal when to strike. These signals came in the form of clicks along the pipes throughout the entire airship. The pirates didn't last long, and no one on the crew could look down on The Duke, no matter how tall they were. Even now when The Duke entered a room they would remember what had happened.

The Duke didn't think about that at all while he walked through the airship to the bridge, because that was just another fight to him. As he walked into the control room one of the men who had disrespected him the most said, "The Captain is on deck! All men at attention!"

Not one of them hesitated to turn and snap to attention. They all then said in unison, "How can we be of use to The Captain?"

"At ease and back to your posts. We have a passenger tomorrow at sunrise, so I want this piece of flying scrap to outshine the sun."

Pipsqueak walked in eating the leg of an unfortunate bird, and said, "You do remember she's blind, don't cha?"

"Ugh, I'm so stupid," The Duke said while slapping his forehead, "Belay that last order, men. Just make sure we can lift off before the pickens caw."

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Speaking of pickens, Lee found a great deal on some big fat ones while out resupplying. The cooks are experimenting with them too."

"Then what are we doing here?"

After eating The Duke relayed what had happened at Aang, Katara, and Toph's house. He then said, "I feel like such a jerk. I mean she was just being nice, and I go and take it the wrong way!"

What he didn't know was that Toph was having a similar conversation in the upper ring of the city. She said to Katara, who was still giggling, "I mean, I started the flirting, but I'm not used to people flirting with me."

"You're probably worrying too much. He was probably just being polite, and, you know, trying to get a laugh," Katara said, and then went into a fit of laughter.

"That's the problem! I could literally feel that he was sincere. He said with absolutely no signs of lying, and… And I've never had anyone say something like that to me. The only time anything even close to that happened to me before was one time in the lowest ring of the city, and he then offered me four gold pieces to get into bed with him. I threw him over the wall."

"Well, you're going to be with him for nearly two weeks, so you better figure out how you're going to deal with it. And it's his airship, so you can't throw him out."

"You're useless. I should have talked to Twinkle-toes."

"What?" Aang said, looking up from Momo who was juggling some rocks.

"Nothing," Toph said, and then went to her room to prepare for tomorrow.

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Afterword:

Next chapter should be up in awhile, hopefully next week. Once again sorry to anyone paying attention to this story. SPOILER ALERT! I'm also going to introduce a love interest for Pipsqueak


	4. Chapter 4

Foreword:

I'm back, yahoo! Sorry, this is so late. I had taken a break for school, and then I got a summer job and wrote a book, and now back. Hopefully I can update more frequently, but I make no promises.

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Disclaimer:

I own nothing, I think we all know that.

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"The ship's all ready to go," Pipsqueak said and inhaled scrambled picken eggs.

"And, here comes the sun," The Duke said, "Good work, Pipsqueak."

The two of them were on waiting outside of the ship. From down the street they could see Toph coming, and she wasn't alone. Another girl was with her. When the two girls got to the airship The Duke said, "I'm glad you could us."

"It wasn't that hard. It's the only giant, metal object in the whole city," Toph said, and kept her distance.

"Guess you're right…"

"Ooh, awkward, so let me introduce myself. My name's Jin. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Jin. I'm The Duke," He bowed his head.

Pipsqueak was trying to hide his empty plate, and said, "My name's Pipsqueak, and it's very nice to meet you… as well. Are you, uh, coming with us?"

"Yeah, Katara thought Toph could use some help while she's away."

Toph punched Jin in the arm, and said, "Can we get going already?"

"Yeah, sure," The Duke said, "Pipsqueak will show you to your rooms. I have to take of some business."

Toph, Jin, and Pipsqueak then went off in one direction, and The Duke went off in another. Pipsqueak was giving the grand tour, pointing out all the little odds and ends of the ship. As they came up to the quest quarters he said, "Now we only have one quest room set up, so you two will have to share this room until we can set up another."

"That's fine, I'm used to sharing living space," Toph said.

"It's fine with me too, but I was wondering if you could give me a tour of the rest of the ship."

"Of course! Let's go."

"I'm gonna pass," Toph said, and the other two left. She was left all alone in the steel room. At first she thought about her parents, and what she would say to them. These thoughts were brought to an abrupt end when the air ship lifted off the ground.

Toph was still uncomfortable with flying. She has always hated flying on Appa, and air ships weren't much better. The idea of not being able to leave left Toph feeling tense. Her only reason for liking air ships over Appa was that she could actually feel what was around her.

As she thought about the ship around her she was brought back to The Duke, and what he had said. Their little bit of flirting would affect the whole trip that they were on. Even The Duke was plagued with thoughts of what was said.

He was on the deck looking out over the horizon as the air ship rose into the air. He thought about how he would love to share this with Toph, and the irony of wanting to show her scenery. His thoughts were then interrupted as one of the crewmen said to him, "Sir, first mate Pipsqueak said that we need to set up another room. What should we do?"

"We have another quest on board, so do what he told you to do and prepare another room."

"What do we do about rations?"

"Do we have enough for an extra until we get to our next stop?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why do we have to do anything then?"

"I, um, I just…"

"If you don't have any other concerns then I suggest you get started on that room."

"Sir, yes sir, The Captain!"

The crewman left The Duke on the deck with the other crewmen who were busy piloting the ship. Occasionally The Duke would give an order to the crewman with him, and other times he would give commands through the intercom system.

After one of the times The Duke said that they had entered a calm zone Pipsqueak offered to let Jin out on one of the fire bending platforms. He was tying the safety rope around her waist. Pipsqueak fiddled with the rope and Jin said, "Whoa, that's a little tight."

"Sorry," He said, and let go, "I sometimes forget my own strength."

"It's okay," Jin said, and put the rope into position.

Pipsqueak put his own rope on, and the two of them walked out on separate platforms. They looked out over the landscape, then at each other. Before either one knew what was happening though a strong updraft came. The updraft caught on Jin's robe, the force pulled her off the platform.

Jin was just about to fall down between the platforms, but Pipsqueak managed to catch her. Her momentum was too much for him, though. The two of them then fell down, and started to scream.

They stopped after a second, and when they realized that the rope had stopped them from falling both of them laughed. Their ropes were taut, but they were still swinging around bumping into each other. Using their hands Pipsqueak and Jin held themselves apart, and Jin said, "Really glad that you convinced me to put the rope on."

"Yeah, I once forgot to put the rope on. Luckily we were still on the ground."

"That was lucky," Their fingers interlocked.

"I, uh, guess we should climb back up now."

"We could… but I don't mind hanging out for awhile."

* * *

Oh that was just bad on my part, I'm sorry about that pun.

Well, this chapter I was trying to work on Pipsqueak and Jin's relationship, there will be more on Toph and The Duke next week. If you don't know who Jin is then this next part is for you. Jin is the girl Zuko dated in Ba Sing Se, simple huh?

Leave comments, favorite it, follow it, and look up Anti-Trend Publishing on facebook.


	5. Chapter 5

Foreword:

Well, it didn't take me too long to get back. Hope someone will read this, and comment. It's not like I get paid to do this, I just do it for a few readers and comments, so please leave some. I'd want to update more often if I got lots of comments.

* * *

Disclaimer:

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender, I'm not even sure who does.

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Two days of flying had already gone by, and the airship was about to reach its first stop. During these two days Pipsqueak and Jin had spent most of their time together. The only time that they weren't together was when they were asleep, and even then their dreams had each other in them. When awake they would go out on the platforms and look down on the earth far below, at least while Pipsqueak didn't have to work.

The Duke and Toph had not been getting along as well. The only time they interacted was at meal time, and even then they had not spoken much. Toph was actually worrying about it more than any of her friends would have expected, but most of them weren't there anyway, so she was left to deal with her issues on her own. That's what she thought, but she was proven wrong when one of the rare times that Jin wasn't with Pipsqueak came up.

"Hey, Toph, what you thinking about?" Jin said when she walked into their shared room.

"Nothing…"

"Oh, come on. I don't need fancy earth bending to tell that you're lying," Jin said and her head cocked to the side.

"Fine, I feel bad about this thing with The Duke. Every time we're together I feel so awkward that I can barely say or do anything, and then he doesn't say or do anything either."

"Hmm, interesting…"

"Okay, what're you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Jin said, and covered her mouth to giggle.

Later, after she had left Toph, Jin went to see The Duke. He was on the bridge directing the operators landing the airship, but he stopped when he saw Jin, and then The Duke said, "Jin, do you need something?"

"Not really," She said, and rocked back and forth on her heels and toes.

"Doesn't seem that way."

"Well, I guess there is something you could do for me."

"And…?"

"Toph's been feeling kind of down lately. She said she felt bad about taking advantage of your good will without giving anything in return."

"That doesn't sound like Toph. Are you sure that's what she said?"

"Something like that anyway."

"Okay, how can I help?"

"I was thinking that you could take her with you when you go into town, and she could, you know, pull her own weight."

"Um, sure, I guess I could do that. Do you want to tell her?"

"Oh, uh, actually, could you invite her? I don't want her to know that I told you."

The Duke didn't say anything, he just looked at Jin. She was holding her hands behind her back, her feet shifted, and then she paced the room looking over everyone's shoulders at the little gauges and controls. As she went around the control room The Duke's eyes followed her, and when Jin got back to the door The Duke said to his crew, "Can you handle the rest?"

"Of course, sir," The nearest one said.

"Okay then," The Duke said, and then he walked to the door forcing Jin to go through. Both of them walked to Toph and Jin's room, Jin lead the way even though The Duke knew the way.

They arrived at the hall that the room was down. The Duke walked up to the door, and Jin hid around the corner. His knuckles made a clang, instead of a pounding sound, and Toph answered the door. Toph did her empty stare in the direction of The Duke, she knew it was him, and she said, "What's going on?"

"We're landing soon, and I could really use some help in town."

"So…?"

"Well, I don't have any earth benders, and an earth bender would be really, um, helpful."

"You need me to earth bend something?"

"Yeah, or your earth bending expertise at least."

"Sure, I'll help. Not like I got anything better to do."

"Great, we'll be landing soon," The Duke said, and he started to walk away.

"… I'll see you soon!" Toph said.

The Duke looked back, smiled, and he said, "Yeah, I'll come get you in a little bit."

Jin rushed to Toph once The Duke had walked passed her. Toph was still were The Duke left her, just standing in the door way. She didn't move when Jin got to her, and it was impossible for Jin to tell if Toph even knew was that she was there. Jin bent down and looked down into Toph's blind eyes and said, "So, what'd you talk about?"

Toph was silent for a moment, and then shook a little before she said, "Nothing, we talked about nothing."

"Oh, does this "nothing" involve going into town with the captain?"

With a blind, indignant look Toph stepped back into the room. Before Jin could follow her inside Toph closed the door. Jin tried to open the door, but she heard the sound of crunching metal. The door refused to budge, and Jin pounded on it while she screamed to be let back in.

The Duke could hear the pounding and screaming, but he ignored it. He was soon back in the control room, and his crew was doing the last procedure needed to land. By the window The Duke watched the ground get closer and closer, and then he was joined by Pipsqueak who said, "Did you hear screamin' a bit ago?"

"Maybe… Hey, what do we need anything that would require an earth bender?"

"Mm, an earth bender? Or Toph?"

"Uh, Toph."

"She could check the ore we need to fix up the ship."

"Perfect, tell the crew that I'll be in charge of getting the ore."

"Sir, yes sir," Pipsqueak said, and smiled while he feigned a salute, "Should I get Toph for your date too?"

"No, I'll get her, I mean, uh, it's not a date."

"Yeah, I'll go get the men, you can get the cute girl."

"Just get to it."

"Aw, you used to be fun," Pipsqueak said, and he went to inform the crew of their responsibilities.

"I'm still fun, I left a bag of lychee nuts at the main door for you," The Duke said loud enough for Pipsqueak to hear him, a loud banging could be heard from down the hall, "Too bad I ate all the good ones."

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Afterword:

Does anyone even read the foreword, disclaimer, or afterword? I could probably say anything I want just by adding one of those lines...

Alright, so on this chapter, I hope I developed the plot and characters well. Next chapter will have The Duke and Toph in some random town, and I don't think Pipsqueak and Jin will show up much. Oh, pointless spoilers.


	6. Chapter 6

Foreword:

Have not uploaded in forever, and I apologize for that. Please enjoy this chapter while off in the infinity of the multi-verse I beg for forgiveness. But, I have to say maybe more comments would lead to more uploads.

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Disclaimer:

I own nothing, no version of Avatar, not Last Airbender, Korra, or space cat smurfs.

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"So what's the plan?" Toph said as she stepped off the ship.

"We need iron ore to repair the ship."

"Ah, so that's why I'm here."

"Yeah, and because I have a couple of gambling buddies in town. Rumor has it you're a bit of an eel-shark."

"I've taken a little money from those willing to lose it in my day."

"I'm sure you could have taken more than that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Um," The Duke blushed, "I meant you could've gotten more than 'a little money'."

"Of course, and your blood pressure rising is from your greediness, I'm sure."

"Heh, funny, but you have to remember I am business man first and fore most."

"Really? Just business?"

"Business _man_. I might be all about business, but I'm still a man."

"I'll keep that in mind," Toph said with a giggle.

"I didn't know you could laugh like that."

"You've heard me laugh before."

"But only when it sounds like a platypus-bear mocking you right before eats you. I didn't know your laugh could sound so feminine, so pretty, so… lovely."

"'Lovely'? You think I'm, I mean, it, my little laugh, is lovely? Wait, what did you think it was before?"

"Nothing, I mean, I did think about it, but nothing special, my thoughts were nothing special, your laugh is really special, I just didn't think of it much, you know what I mean?"

"Maybe we should stop talking for a while, both of us, _you know what I mean_?"

"Uh yeah, that's probably a good idea."

In silence, the two of them walked through the market place. In the upper-class shopping section The Duke noticed girls whispering, and following their whispers he noticed Toph blushing. As they continued down through the shopping district The Duke noticed more than whispers. He could hear the old women gossip about the young airship captain and his pale mystery girl. On several occasions whistling men were silenced by swift earth-bending kicks, but The Duke pretended he didn't notice. Toph pretended not to notice when gaggles of high-pitched girls swarmed her and The Duke, and ignored the compliments and flirtations they screamed and spoke softly to The Duke.

Toph found out not only was The Duke popular with girls in this town, but that in some ways The Duke and his crew were more famous in the trade routes than Team Avatar. He was showered with gifts as they walked by, incentive and test products to help with national and international sales. Dress makers were especially taking advantage of having a female perspective accompanying The Duke. All kinds of clothing salespeople were literally throwing clothes at Toph in a hope she would tell The Duke how good of quality the garments were.

"Is it always like this?" Toph said heaving the stack of dresses and assorted clothing onto her shoulder.

"I guess, I've kind of gotten used to it at this point."

"Hm, even the girls?"

The Duke blushed.

"Guess you're not used to them then."

"Hey, I have to stop here for a second."

"I'm so sure. What's this, the subject-change store?"

"No, it's an ostrich-horse and cart rental office. We'll need them to carry the ore."

"Pfft, that's what I'm for."

"Maybe, but can you carry the ore and those dresses your admirers gave you?"

"I… I think you should be carrying these stupid things," Toph threw her burden on The Duke. The sudden weight put him off balance causing him to fall, and Toph said, "Are you okay…? Can you hear me…? Duke!"

"_The_ Duke," He spitted out, "I'm fine. I just fell into a pile of-"

"It's manure, isn't it? I can smell it, it's totally manure."

"Hay, actually, but five feet further and your dresses would have been ruined."

"Like I care about that. Give me your hand."

"Can't, I'd have to drop your pretty new clothes."

"Drop it, figuratively and literally."

"No."

"What is your problem? Drop those stupid things and let me help you up!"

"My problem is I really want to see you in these stupid things, so help me by taking them off my hands."

"You want to see… Just hand them over and get out of there," Toph said, and she took her new wardrobe back.

"Thanks," The Duke said, and pushed himself out of the straw pile, "I'll get a cart and then you can stop carry them."

"Whatever," Toph said, hiding her face because of how much she had blushed because of what The Duke had said about wanting to see her.

A few moments later they were outside again, riding on a cart being pulled by two ostrich-horses. The Duke held onto the reins and Toph fidgeted in her seat next to him. They had left the main merchant area and had entered the raw materials district of the market place. It was then that The Duke noticed Toph shifting in her seat, and he said, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Toph said, freezing like a statue.

"Come on. What is it?"

"Well… you know how I see by feeling the vibrations in the earth?"

"…Yeah?"

"It doesn't work on wood."

"Oh… Oh! Hang on, I'll get you down."

The Duke jumped off the cart and ran around to Toph's side. He grabbed her hand, yanking her off her seat, and sending her pirouetting on her tip-toes.

"Better?"

"Yeah," She said, wistfully squeezing his hand, "I mean, Yeah, I'm good now," Taking her hand back.

"Let's just walk by the ostrich-horses for now. You can lead them."

"Okay," Toph said, and took the reins without another word.

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Afterword:

Hope you liked it. Please tell me what you thought, good, bad, or neutral. Seriously, tell me, how was the flirting? Goofy and awkward? I hope so, I tried really hard at it.


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